 The Australian side will look to overcome their injury issues before the starof the World Cup but the coach Tim Nielsen has said that he hoped that
the selectors did not risk getting in players who were not fully fit for the World
Cup.
The Australian injury roster grew during their recently concluded series against
England. Michael Hussey had a hamstring strain for which he is still
recovering and has already said that he will miss the opening couple of games
for the side.
Apart from Hussey, there are others as well. Ricky Ponting had his finger
busted during Ashes and is still to play fast bowling in the nets. On the other
hand, Nathan Hauritz, Australia's only spinner in the side dislocated his shoulder
and will probably need some time out as well. To add to this, Xavier Doherty
(back) and Shaun Marsh (hamstring), who could have been their replacements are
also out with injury issues and will probably miss the tournament.
Australia will reach India on Tuesday to play in the first warm-up game against
the hosts at Bangalore. From then on, they will play South Africa on February
15 in another warm-up match at the same ground before their first game against
Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad on February 21. Australia's remaining games will be played
against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Canada and Pakistan before the quarter-finals.
While Hussey has already said that he will not get fit in time for the start
of the tournament, Hauritz has already started bowling and should play in the
first game that the side plays.
The issue that the selectors and the coach will have is that carrying too many
injured players like Hauritz, Hussey and Ponting will be a gamble that they
could avoid. Nielsen said that the injury to so many players will mean that
the side will have only 11 or 12 players to choose from at the start of the
tournament - something that they will look to avoid. What this will mean is
that if someone else gets injured, it could lead to further complications in
the side.
Nielsen, however, admitted that Ponting's batting had come about well after
his injury and has had a couple of good net sessions. Where the side will struggle
is to get a spinner to replace Hauritz because of the issues to Xavier Doherty
and Steven Smith, both of whom have some niggles against them.
|
